


Between the Two of Us

by oxiosa



Series: Caught [2]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers, Latin Hetalia - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Non-Explicit Sex, mermaid!au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-05-10
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:54:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24115342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oxiosa/pseuds/oxiosa
Summary: Martín was not completely oblivious to what Luciano had done last night; he couldn’t say land rituals made sense to him, but he didn’t need to understand all the implications to know its importance.
Relationships: Argentina/Brazil (Hetalia)
Series: Caught [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1739995
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9





	Between the Two of Us

**Author's Note:**

> Disclamer; the characters used in this work belong to the community Latin Hetalia and their respective creators. More info about them in the following link > www.latin-hetalia.livejournal.com
> 
> Argentina: Martín.  
> Brazil: Luciano Da Silva.  
> Paraguay: Daniel.  
> Uruguay: Sebastián.

“This is my favorite part of the day.”

Martín stared at the horizon abstently, watching the sky turn a furious shade of orange, dark blues and purples already announcing the arrival of nightfall. At his back, Luciano agreed in a quiet thoughtful hum.

They didn’t usually do this. They usually didn’t have time to sit back and leisure around. Martin had learnt that work was the main pillar of life in land, and thus of Luciano’s life. After years by his side, it had become part of Martín’s life too. Luciano had taught him how to sail and how to fish the way his people did. But he had also had taught him how to cook, how to drink, how to dance. He had taught him the stories and songs of his people, had shared everything he had to offer night after night until Martín stopped being a stranger to life by the shore. It had taken years of practice and learning, but by now Luciano liked to joke around saying Martín had become as good a sailor as a fish could be.

Day offs were luxuries their humble life didn’t allow, but Luciano had insisted, argued that they deserved a little day for themselves, and it had taken little convincing for Martín to indulge. They had dropped their nets and had set course into the open ocean, out of fishing waters and into territories sailors avoided to stay out of the way of Martín’s kind. They had found this little portion of land barely large enough to be called an island, secluded from mainland by miles and miles of endless water.

They had swam, napped, wrestled, kissed and made love with the bright sun as their only witness. It had felt a little like the days when Martín was still a child and would visit Luciano on their little secret bay. Back to when all started.

As the day came to its end, Luciano had started a fire and had pulled a bottle of  _ cachaça _ from their sailboat. Now, they sat silently close together, Martín’s back pressed against Luciano’s chest as he melted under his clever hands; Luciano abstently braided Martín’s hair only to pull his work apart and start all over again. It was an habit he had picked since Martín let his hair grow out, one that rendered Martín into boneless uselessness.

“You know,” Luciano commented. “Today marks seven years since we set sails.”

Luciano was pesky when it came to dates; yet another habit of his people, meticulously keeping track of the passing of time and structuring it in overly-complicated constructions. Martín could only care the rise of the sun and the moon, the cycles that warmed and cooled the water. He frowned a little to himself, tried to translate Luciano’s concept of time to his own.

“That’s quite a lot,” he conceded slowly after a moment.

“Yes,” Luciano agreed. He squirmed, displaced Martín and forced him to pull apart and sit up. Luciano run a hand through his beard - what little he was able to grow anyways - and avoided Martín’s eyes looking uncharacteristically bashful all of the sudden. “Enough to get me thinking, and... I‘ve got something for you.”

Luciano had always worn three necklaces around his neck; the first was the one Martín had carved for him, still on his possession even after all these years. The second was a string with beads and a cross at the end. The last one, the one Luciano carefully pulled off as Martín watched him, was a delicate silver chain with a lonely ring looped through it.

“I know your people don’t do this,” Luciano cleared his throat and let out a quiet nervous laugh. “But I’ve been meaning to give this to you for some time...”

Luciano pulled the chain aside, and dropped the ring on the palm of his hand. He took Martín’s left hand and slid the ring in his finger with a quiet breathless parsimony that didn’t -  _ couldn’t _ \- go unnoticed by Martín.

“A promise,” Luciano explained. He cupped Martín face, traced his cheekbone with his thumb and gave him a little shy smile. “To love you as long as I live, ‘till death do us part.”

“Luciano…” Martín whispered, but was interrupted by Luciano’s lips.

The kiss was slow and gentle. It left Martín breathless, feeling dizzy and drunk. He didn’t resist when Luciano’s hand gently pushed him until his back hit the sand, and he opened up compliantly when Luciano spread his legs apart and settled on top of him. Martín shuddered when Luciano buried his face on his neck and kissed and sucked the sensitive skin there, melted helplessly below him.

Luciano proved to be as doting of a lover as ever; he kissed and traced every inch of Martín’s skin, took his time like this was the first and last time he’d get to do this with Martín. Luciano called his named, praised him and whispered a thousand sweet nonsense into Martín’s ear. He worked patiently and ceaselessly, slow and methodical like his only job in life was to bring Martín pleasure. His unwavering attention and tender touches were enough to leave even a vain creature such as Martín flustered and speechless. 

It all proved to be too much for Martín - for his heart and body -, and met he his edge with Luciano’s name on his lips.

Martín woke up close to dawn to the noise of wood cracking quietly around him, as if he was laying inside the ribs of some snoring animal. It was a comforting sound, one Martín had grown used to after so long by Luciano’s side, the soft cacophony of the ropes and wood that meshed together kept their sailboat afloat. Luciano’s body pressed tightly to Martín’s, his face buried in Martín’s neck, one arm thrown over waist and one leg tangled between Martín’s.

It was a little embarrassing to admit Martín was not quite sure how he made it to their cabin; Luciano must had carried him to bed last night. Martín let out a content sigh: it felt tempting to sink back to sleep, if only to relish in the warmth of Luciano’s naked body. He buried his hand on Luciano’s hair, and dropped his smile when he felt the unfamiliar sensation of the thick short strands catching on the ring on his finger.

He had almost forgotten about it.

Placing a gentle kiss on Luciano’s lips, Martín slipped off bed and out of their little cabin. He stepped into the quiet open deck and stretched and shudder at the cool ocean breeze against his bare skin. He examined the ring on his finger, gently traced it as if scared it might break under his careful touch, and frowned to himself.

Luciano was right. There was no such thing between Martín's people - not formally at least, for lifelong bonds were not unheard of. But Martín was not completely oblivious to what Luciano had done last night; he couldn’t say land rituals made sense to him, but he didn’t need to understand all the implications of this ring to know its importance.

After all, Martín knew this ring. It had belonged to Luciano’s mother.

This was the one thing Luciano had kept from his life on land. He had sold and abandoned everything, had only clung to this little golden loop and had carried it close to his heart ever since. It was very dear to him, and he had given it to Martín.

Martín climbed the railing of the sailboat, and without a second though, he dove from the ship into the ocean. As cold water swallowed him, it felt like taking a deep breath after holding his breath for too long. The change was so fast here, in the endless ocean, that he didn’t know when he lost his legs for a long strong tail.

There was nothing Martín could offer Luciano back that would match the value of this ring.

He needed to at least _try._

“Have you tried looking through shipwrecks?”

Martín glared at Sebastián and let out a long suffering sigh. Sebastián didn’t bother to acknowledge him, too busy sprawled on their rocky shore sunbathing - he always did enjoy the sun on his pale skin and deep blue scales.

“We always did find shiny stuff down there,” Daniel agreed with a hopeful smile.

He laid face down on the hard rock, supporting his upper half on his elbows. His orange tail shone under the sun almost as brightly as Martín’s golden ring. Daniel, unlike Sebastián, at least showed some sincere interest in Martín’s predicament.

“Of course I did,” Martín huffed, rolled his eyes at them. “But all I ever find are rings with big useless sparkly rocks.”

“What’s wrong with big sparkly rocks?” Sebastián asked.

“They’re  _ trash _ ,” Martín replied flatly. “I can’t just give Luciano any ring. It needs to match the one he gave me.”

That much Martín knew. He understood vaguely how it worked; people exchanged matching rings.

“How about trading?” Daniel asked, rested his head on his hands. “In land they do that, right?”

“I tried,” Martín answered gloomly.

He had swam to town and had asked where he could buy a ring. The townspeople had directed him to a blacksmith. Martín had never been not very good at math - yet another overly complicated human foundation -, but he had needed just to hear the summ the blacksmith asked of him to know there was no way he could afford that.

“We could always go look for a sailor with a ring just like that and take it from them,” Daniel offered.

It was not a bad idea, if only Martín knew Luciano wouldn’t mind.

“He wouldn’t appreciate that,” Martín replied with a defeated sigh.

“Well, maybe you could put something together for him,” Daniel gave a little shrug.

“How about you get him something else?” Sebastián added.

Martín groaned and buried his face in his hands.

“ _ Useless _ ,” he grumbled as he slid off the rocks and back into the water. “You’re both useless.”

He didn’t know why he bothered asking his cousins for advice. It was not as if they knew anything of land rituals anyways.

“You’re the one who can’t even get his mate a proper gift, spongebrain!” Sebastián called as Martín swam away.

Martín had spent days mulling it over until he run out of ideas.

There was only one last solution he could think of, and as begrudgingly as he admitted it, that was taking his cousins’ advice.

It took Martín weeks of work, and even then he wished he could do more for Luciano. It wasn’t much, so he would have to make the best of it and hope Luciano appreciated it.

He picked a starry night with a bright full moon to present his gift.

Like many nights before, they sat on the bow of their sailboat as the waves gently rocked them, their feet hanging over the dark calm water. Luciano hummed to himself, sang quietly with his eyes closed and his face raised to the sky. His handsome profile was outlined by the white moonlight as his voice carried out with the soft ocean breeze. The mere sight of him was beautiful enough to ache inside Martín’s chest.

“You’re quiet,” Luciano interrupted his singing to point out.

Only then Martín realized he had been staring in silence for several minutes.

“I like to hear you sing,” Martín answered, which was not exactly what was in his mind but it was no lie either.

Luciano smiled at him, raised his arm in a gesture Martín responded by cuddling closer. Luciano wrapped his arm around his shoulders, sang some more for him as he run his finger through Martín’s long hair. Martín closed his eyes with a happy sigh, and opened them again to look up and plant a tender kiss on Luciano’s jaw. He rested his head on his shoulder, and pressed his hand right over Luciano’s beating heart.

Taking a breath, Martín slid his hand into the loose neck of Luciano’s worn out shirt, traced his palm over warm smooth skin until the tip of his fingers touched the familiar shape of a seashell. He closed his fist around it, and gently pulled it out from between the folds of cloth and into the moonlight. Luciano stopped his singing, and watched in silence as Martín examined the little seashell.

“Do you remember the day I gave you this?” Martín asked in a soft whispered.

“How could I forget?” Luciano snorted. “Your mother almost kill me.”

Martín traced a finger over the seashell; it was a clumsily made, clearly a child’s handiwork. The carving was completely gone by now, and the seashell’s surface was faded and a little chapped.

“And do you remember what is it?” Martín pressed.

_ ‘A song for those who are away,’  _ he had said all those years ago. _ ‘So you won’t forget me.’ _

“I do,” Luciano answered, his smile turning soft and sweet. He gave Martín a funny look like he was not making much sense. “That’s why I’ve kept it all this time, you know.”

Martín hummed and closed his fist around the seashell.

Luciano wouldn’t be needing of this old thing anymore.

With a clean pull, he ripped the necklace from Luciano’s neck, who let out a little yelp of surprised. Martín reached out and without ceremony opened his hand to drop the little old seashell into the dark sea.

“Martín!” Luciano exclaimed in horror. He leaned over to watch the water like he could see the little seashell sinking to the bottom of the ocean in the dark. “Are you insane, what did you do that for?!”

He looked torned, like Martín had just done the most terrible thing to him, which Martín found oddly endearing. He cupped his face and kissed his lips.

“I’ve got something for you.”

Imitating Luciano as carefully as possible, Martín pulled out a pearly golden ring. Luciano sucked in a sharp breath, and went completely still and speechless. Martín offered him a smile, and took his left hand and carefully slid it with a slow deliberate movement.

“A promise,” Martín said with a humorous smile.

Luciano stared at the ring open-mouthed. He looked up to Martín with blown-out brown eyes and Martín felt cold crippling panic when Luciano’s eyes filled with tears. But then, Luciano bursted into loud wild laughter. Filled with relief, Martín smiled and wrapped his arms around Luciano, who laughed and shred some more tears on Martín’s neck as he clung to him.

Luciano eventually pulled away, whipped his tears with the back of his hand.

“You didn’t have to…”

“I did,” Martín replied. “I’m yours just as much as you’re mine. You should know that too.”

Luciano sniffed, looked down to examine the ring on his finger. It was a delicate thing that had taken Martín days of hard work. Finding a pearl big enough and with a colouring close enough to gold had been difficult on its own, but carefully shaping it as close a match as possible to the ring on Martín’s finger had been a challenge.

“I love it,” Luciano said. He cupped Martín’s face and kissed him, or tried to do so over the wide smile spreading his lips. “God, I love you.”

He kissed him again, and pulled apart only to rest his forehead against Martín’s.

“Thank you…” he said quietly. He added in quiet admission. “This means a lot to me.”

“I know,” Martín answered smugly. “I love you too.”

Luciano let out a laugh, took Martín’s hand and knitted their fingers together to plant a kiss on Martín’s knuckles. He pressed their hands to his chest and buried his face in Martín’s neck again. Martín kissed his temple, and then looked down at their entwined hands.

One golden ring and one pearly ring sat one next to the other, right between their beating hearts. Right between the two of them.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Their older looks are shameless based on [Zu’s older brarg fanart](https://zu-art.tumblr.com/post/22931504420/more-olderau-brarg-because-why-the-hell-not) ‘cause lets face it they look lovely :D


End file.
